Typically, a conveyor system includes a plurality of rollers rotatably mounted in a conveyor frame so as to define a path upon which articles are conveyed. The conveyor may include drive rollers for moving the materials along the conveyor length, belts, or preferably the conveyor may be gravity fed having free-moving rollers. To most effectively utilize the conveyor, it is often necessary to separate the goods and control the positioning. This may be necessary to allow for a user to individually handle or remove a single object, effectively route the materials to the appropriate destination, or to ensure that adjacent materials do not come in contact which may cause damage to the materials.
One type of presently available system includes an electrically powered retaining arm. These systems provide for accurate control of goods along the conveyor, however, they are often expensive to install and require a large amount of maintenance to ensure they operate effectively. Additionally, powered conveyors are more effective when permanently positioned at a single station and are not effective for portable conveyors that are used in a variety of situations such as loading and unloading from trucks and loading docks. Powered retainers using electrically controlled retaining arms may also not be available for use in wet environments such as a loading dock, tractor-trailer, etc.
There have further been numerous mechanically operated retainer mechanisms. However, these often require many intricate moving parts that are susceptible to wearing out or being damaged during use. These mechanisms may also become stuck in position resulting in the retention of all goods on the conveyor, or potentially worse, fail to retain materials when a load is placed upon them.
Thus, a straight-forward mechanical retainer is needed that effectively separates materials along a conveyor without being prohibitively expensive or require a large amount of maintenance.